Tanning board assembly



June 25, 1968 F. L.. COLLINS TANNING BOARD ASSEMBLY United States Patent O 3,389,585 TANNING BOARD ASSEMBLY Frank L. Collins, Bolivar, Tenn., assignor to International Shoe Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 530,531 1 Claim. (Cl. 69-19.1)

ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A tanning or past-ing board assembly having spaced boards facing one another with outer exposed surfaces against which wet leather is mounted, the space between the boards providing an area for circulation of heating air.

The general object of the invention is to provide a pasting board assembly which permits the mounting of leather on opposite sides of the board assembly and which provides air spaces between the mounting surfaces for the passage of heating air. A particular object of the invention is to provide a pasting board assembly which greatly improves the uniformity of drying and substantially reduces either the temperature or the Itime required for drying leather mounted against the pasting boards.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of the pasting board assembly showing one side thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the pasting board assembly showing the other side thereof;

FIGURE 3 `is an enlarged view in section taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, but with the leather omitted;

FIGURE 4 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1, but with the leather omitted;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in section on a further enlarged scale taken along the line 5 5 of FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view in section taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 1, the scale corresponding to that of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation view of a spacer rib; and

FIGURE 8 is a schematic top plan view of a typical drying room having a conveyor which carries pasting boards of the kind described herein.

Referring now to the drawing, this pasting board assembly 10 comprises a generally rectangular frame 11 having a top 12, a bottom 13, and sides 14 and 15. The frame 11 may be formed of steel tubing or may be of any other rigid construction, or portions of the frame may be eliminated.

A plurality of vertical parallel ribs 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 span the distance between the top 12 and bottom 13 of the frame 11 and are held in place by clamps 25. Each clamp 25 comprises a U-shaped steel strap Wrapped around the frame tubing with a bolt 26 extending through the ends 27 and 28 of the strap 25 and through portions of the ribs 17-24 which are mounted between the arms 27 and 28. As shown in FIGURE 1, the rib 17 is held by a plurality of clamps 25 spaced along and wrapped about the s-ide 14 of the frame 11. The remaining ribs 18-24 are held by two clamps 25, one on the top 12, and one on the bottom 13 of the frame 1.1.

As FIGURES 3, 4, and 7 show, each rib 17-24 has a plurality of cutouts 30 which provide open spaces between stops 31. The ribs 17-24 are oriented so that the 3,389,585 Patented June 25, 1968 lCe spaces 30 and stop 31 face toward alternate sides of the pasting board, as the sectional views of FIGURES 3 and 4 indicate.

A porcelain plate 32 of `approximately /l inch thickness is mounted against one side of the ribs 17-24, and a similar porcelain plate 33 is mounted against the other side of the ribs. Each plate 32 and 33 has an outer surface 34 and an inner surface 35, the inner surfaces facing one another, as shown in FIGURE 5. The bolts 26 of the clamps extend through approximate holes in the plates 32 and 33 to hold the plates in place. On alternate ones of the ribs 17-24, each plates 32 and 33 bears against the stops 31 and the back of th-e ribs. Thus, as FIGURES 3 and 4 show, by way of example, the plate 32 bears against the stops 31 of the rib 22 and bears against the back of the rib 23. This assures that air c-irculating between the porcelain plates 32 and 33 can circulate uniformly and equally in contact with the inner surface of both the plate 32 and the plate 33.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a .typical installation for a pasting board assembly showing a room 36 having parallel overhead rails 37 `pass-ing through it. As indicated in FIGURES l and 2, suitable rollers 38 support the pasting board assembly 10 in suspension from the rails 37 so that the pasting board assembly can be moved from the entrance 39 to the room along the rails 37 to the exit 40. The room 36 is maintained under atmospheric Conditions of high temperature and low humidity to dry the leather which is mounted on the pasting boards. This kind of room 36 with the conveyor rails 37 and the controlled atmospheric conditions is standard and conventional in the drying of leather. However, the pasting board assembly 10 is not conventional.

In this pasting board assembly 10, leather sides 42 and 43 are applied Ito the outer surfaces 34 of the porcelain plates 32 and 33 (see FIGURE 3). The pasting board assembly 10 is conveyed through the room 36 as is conventional. However, because of the space between the inner surfaces 3S of the porcelain plates 32 and 33, the heated air contacts the inner surfaces 35 of the plates and heats these surfaces as well as heating the exposed face of the leather sides 42 and 43. In addition to more uniform drying, this assembly has been found to reduce the drying Itime required for the leather by as much as 25% or more or, for a given time, to reduce the temperature required by 10 to 20 F. The alternately facing spaces 30 in the ribs 17-24 enhance the circulation of this heating air. Spacers other than .the ribs 17-24 may be used as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the purview of this invention as will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of this invention as defined by the claim appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A pasting board assembly comprising a porcelain plate defining a rst surface against which a wet leather side or skin can be mounted for drying, a second porcelain plate defining a second surface against which another side or skin of Wet leather can be mounted for drying, the rst and second surface defining means being spaced apart with the spaces between the peripheral edges of the plates being unblocked to permit the circulation of heated air between them, a plurality of spaced ribs between the porcelain plates and against which the porcelain plates bear, lthe ribs having spaced cutouts in them and spaced stops between the cutouts, the cutouts on alternate ribs being alternately faced toward the porcelain plates, a frame surrounding and spaced from the peripheral edges of the porcelain plates, and clamp means for connecting the porcelain plates both to the frame and t0 the ribs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,484,349 10/1949" Kelly 694-19 2,653,410 9/1953 Durkee 69 19.3

2,661,543 12/1953 Tyndau e161 69-19X FOREIGN PATENTS 793,424 4/1958 GreatBritain.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. A. R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner. 

